FRANCE. 



313 



Adding together the first and second ballots, 

 tin- Ki-pulilicanB had 4,687,117 votes, the Con- 

 servatives 2,147,094, and the Bonapartists 

 l.i'i'.i'.i. u I. This gave the Republicans a major- 

 ity .if 1,024,467 over the other two parties put 

 together. The aggregate total of the two bal- 

 lots was 8,583,612, nearly the same as at the 

 jM'iMite of 1870, when 7,000,000 voted " Oui " 

 ami 1,500,000 " Non " only. By a singular 

 coincidence, the empire had nearly the same 

 numbers as its adversaries then had, and n>-< 

 versa. 



The election was generally considered a de- 

 cided check to Bonapartism. In Ajaccio two 

 ballots were necessary, resulting in the election 

 ot' M. Rouher over Prince Napoleon Jer6me. 



The most significant tact in connection with 

 the election was the defeat of M. Buffet in 

 four different districts. This was considered 

 as a popular vote of censure of his policy, and 

 led to his resignation on February 21st. On 

 March 9th a new ministry was formed, under 

 the presidency of M. Dufaure. Four mem- 

 bers of the old cabinet retained their port- 

 folios MM. Dufaure, Decazes, L6on Say, and 

 De Cissey. Five new men entered the cabinet, 

 of whom four belong to the Left Centre. M. 

 Ricard, who took the Interior, was the re- 

 porter on the electoral law voted by the last 

 Assembly. He was defeated at the elections. 

 M. Waddington, Minister of Education, is the 

 son of an Englishman, but was born in France. 

 He formed part of the last Casimir P6rier 

 cabinet, which fell with M. Thiers. M. Chris- 

 tophele, Minister of Public Works, was for- 

 merly President of the Left Centre. M. Teis- 

 serenc de Bort took the portfolio of Commerce, 

 which he held under M. Thiers. He presided 

 over the Sugar Committee, and several of the 

 able reports drawn up by him on that subject 

 have been published. Lastly, Admiral Fouri- 

 chon took the Marine Department. He belongs 

 to the Right Centre, and performed the same 

 functions under the Tours and Bordeaux Gov- 

 ernment. The preliminary meeting of both 

 Chambers was held on March 7th. In both 

 Assemblies the President of the Provincial 

 Bureau was appointed by seniority, the young- 

 est members being secretaries. The sitting 

 lasted only a few minutes. On the following 

 day the formal opening of the session took 

 place. The Chamber of Deputies assembled 

 at 1 p. M. M. Raspail, as senior deputy, pro- 

 visionally occupied the presidential chair, and 

 the six youngest members acted as secretaries. 

 After the formation of the bureau the sitting 

 was suspended, and the president, accompanied 

 by the secretaries and a great number of depu- 

 ties, left the hall to attend the ceremony of the 

 transmissions of powers. This ceremony took 

 place in the Hercules Saloon. The Duke d'Au- 

 diffret-Pasquier occupied the post of honor, 

 and was surrounded by the bureau of the old 

 Assembly and the ministers, MM. Dufaure, 

 Leon Say, Wallon, and Caillaux. Many old 

 and new deputies were present. The Duke 



d'Audiffret-Pasquier delivered a speech, which 

 tin- Republicans concurred in considering firm 

 and suitable to the occasion, lie said : I 

 welcome the new representatives of the pub- 

 lic powers, who have been freely elected. 

 Universal suffrage has just sanctioned the re- 

 publican constitution of the 25th of February, 

 which is a work of conciliation and appease- 

 ment, and thus acquires a double authority. 

 You will have to continue protecting the task 

 of your predecessors and gather round the 

 government of Marshal MacMahon, in order 

 to insure the maintenance of order and peace, 

 the repose necessary to the country, so that it 

 may repair the disasters of the past and sup- 

 port the burdens of the future. I hope the 

 country will be pacified when yon hand over 

 your powers to your successors." M. Gaul- 

 tier de Rurnilly, President of the Senate by 

 seniority, said : " The Senate, the guardian of 

 the constitution, will insure the preservation 

 of peace and security for all interests, and will 



THE OLD BASTILE, PARIS. 



lend its support to the marshal, the constitu- 

 tional President of the Republic, on behalf of 

 order and liberty at home and abroad." M. 

 Dufaure announced that the cabinet was 

 intrusted by Marshal MacMahon with the 

 duty of declaring that, with the aid of God 

 and the cooperation of the two Chambers, the 

 marshal would govern conformably with the 

 laws and with the view to the promotion of 

 the honor and the interest of the country. 

 The Duke d'Audiffret-Pasquier then declared 

 the mission of the National Assembly to be at 

 an end, and he delivered its powers to the new 

 Chambers. At the close of the ceremony the 

 Senate and the Chamber of Deputies com- 

 menced their first regular sitting. On the re- 

 sumption of the sitting of the Chamber of 

 Deputies, M. Raspail delivered a short address, 

 in which he appealed to the members to dis- 



